1. Field of the Invention
The invention described herein relates to liquid germicidal cleaning compositions.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is widely known to those skilled in the art of cleaning and sanitizing hard surfaces that phenol and substituted phenols are effective germicides. Two well known substituted phenol germicides are 4-chloro-2-cyclopentyl phenol, sold under the trade name Dowicide 9 by the Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Mich., and 2-benzyl-4-chlorophenol sold under the trade name Santophen 1 by Monsanto Company, St. Louis, Mo.
Previous workers, such as Rogers, In U.S. Pat. No. 2,614,060, and Partansky, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,359,240, have taught that phosphates such as sodium tripolyphosphate and potassium pyrophosphate, in water solution, enhance the germicidal activity of phenolic germicides.
Other workers, such as Peacock, in British Pat. No. 1,104,692, have demonstrated that it is possible to make heavy duty germicidal cleaners by mixing together a sufactant, a phosphate builder, a phenolic germicide and a hydrotrope.
While many useful germicidal cleaners have been described and made, they have heretofore suffered from one serious defect: none have been particularly effective against bacteria from the family Pseudomonodaceae. Bacteria from this family are responsible for meningitis, pneumonia, urinary tract infections, wound infections and burn infections. The ineffectiveness of germicidal cleaners against Pseudomonodaceae has caused severe problems in hospitals and clinics throughout the world. One particularly troublesome species of this family is Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A complete description of Pseudomonodaceae can be found in any of the standard bacteriological texts such as Bergey's Manual of Determinative Bacteriology, 7th Edition, (Baltimore, 1957) published by William and Wilkins Company.